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African solutions by African people and in partnership we will go a long way together. Our unrealistic lifestyle in the West is unsustainable as we consume and over-consume buying into the illusion. We require strong effective transparent leaders who will govern with vision and direction if we are to find effective solutions for the future challenges regarding food security. As the article states this will be a lengthy and complex process. Rural development initiatives must commence with small scale farmers and be conducted with a consultative and collaborative approach. If not the biggest challenge, them most certainly one of the biggest challenges that Africa faces is sourcing the capital required for future development. Truth, trust and transparency will go a long way in establishing a solid foundation to work from. As Jeffrey Sachs stated in his book The Price of Civilization - Dishonesty is a contagious social disease; once it gets started, it tends to spread. To end this comment, Africa can learn a great deal from China about growing its agribusiness sector. Read more

I am wishing all the best for africa and its population.But i d like to share my thoughts about what is in store for them in the future.I remember a documentary explaining what part of africa has already been reserved by european nations ,for food security.In many parts ,there are industrial scale agro-cultivations,from where the3 produce goes directly to the "owner" nation(Germany ,France etc.).So the potential is there,the resources are there,the question is the usual (lately) "poor vs rich divide",and not only continent wise,but inside Africa itself.There are (as everywhere) those who are prepared to cooperate with the vultures,those who believe that by helping the rich ,they might get a few left overs for themselves .All those who act for their own personal interest just like any self respecting capitalist consumer would.To cut the long story short,unless we see a world wide rise of the poor,a real bettering of the quality of life of everyone,unless we learn that carrying our food half way around the planet is not something we can continue doing for much longer,unless we realise that we can not be happy when there are millions dying from hunger,war (over resources) and religious fanaticism(another way those who rule have been using with success for hundreds of years ,and that there are no signs it will soon be eliminated),unless we change for real,we will all go down together.And when i say down i mean dead.There can not be such a thing as Sustainable poverty.People will reach the turning point ,and (i hope) will demolish this monstrosity we ve been maintaining during all our life,and in exchange for our lives ..Sounds radical?maybe irrational?Well think how rational someone who expects to die in poverty and starvation can be.I will not (when the time comes,which doesnt seem very far away).But let me not destroy the dream of africa becoming another player in the international trade and the globalisation.We humans tend to learn only the hard way(those lucky to survive the lesson)...\Africa unite!.B.Marley. Read more

Paul Kagame and K.Y. Amoako elaborate their ideas about transforming Africa into a "breadbasket." As president of Rwanda, Kagame is striving to rebuild his country's economy after the ethnic conflict in the mid 1990s that killed at least 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus. Rwanda is a small landlocked country in mideast Africa. But it has many lakes and rolling hills. Owing to its temperate tropical highland climate, coffee and tea production constitutes its main exports. The World Bank has praised Rwanda for its "remarkable development successes", having reduced poverty and inequality.In March 2016 Rwanda is hosting the African Transformation Forum in Kigali, with highranking "figures from African governments, business, academia, and civil society to discuss practical next steps toward agricultural transformation in Africa, and the broader push to build globally competitive economies." The authors hope to launch development policies and point out that Africa "boasts 60% of the world’s arable land and climates conducive to a tremendous diversity of crops." This would offer "a remarkable opportunity" to boost production and to become a "major food exporter". At the same time it would also "ensure food security for Africans (one in four is undernourished)."With the world population reaching "an estimated 8.5 billion by 2030", food production has failed to keep pace with population growth. It's true that while many countries in Africa "experienced rapid growth in recent years, the agricultural sector has remained stagnant." Farming tends to be labour-intensive, creating low level, local jobs, and "African agriculture is still dominated by small-scale farmers." They lack access to technology that increases productivity. As a result farmers "focus mainly on a narrow range of products". Besides "in many parts of Africa, land is communally owned", which discourages farmers from making "the needed investments."There's hope that parts of Africa could become a breadbasket. Apart from climate and soil conditions, that vary enormously, in most countries the infrastructure is underdeveloped. Markets, manufacturig and financial instruments are crucial to help boost the economy . Governance ranges from poor to erratic, and international institutions don't always make the right decisions for the locals. Reckless development in the past had caused "environmental damage, including land degradation, soil nutrient mining, excessive water use, and water pollution." As soil fertility has fallen, farmers have expanded into forests to maintain incomes, leading to deforestation – which in turn leads to more problems, like soil erosion. Indeed, "Africa’s agricultural transformation will be a long and complex process." The authors believe "it has the potential to ensure regional food security, promote broader economic development, and ultimately help to feed the world." Much hard work still lies ahead! Read more

The experience of successful economies like those of Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and China demonstrates that communal ownership of land doesn't work. Land reform (buying off land lords and deeding land to the tillers) preceded economic take-off.

England invented the "Agricultural Revolution" only after enclosures replaced communal land holding with private plots.

Soviet-style collective farms were a colossal failure.

Africans should bite the bullet and abolish communal land holding. Read more

Advanced agriculture has its issues too, Egypt, for instance, thought it could just simply transition and then built the Aswan dam basically cutting off traditional agriculture from it's water source. The result was increased poverty and reduced production for a period afterwards. Read more

PS On Air: The Super Germ Threat

NOV 2, 2016

In the latest edition of PS On
Air
, Jim O’Neill discusses how to beat antimicrobial resistance, which
threatens millions of lives, with Gavekal Dragonomics’ Anatole Kaletsky
and Leonardo Maisano of
Il Sole 24 Ore.

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